


How To Sew A Button

by ballpoint



Category: Marvel 616, Young Avengers
Genre: F/M, Hobbies, how to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-26
Updated: 2011-06-26
Packaged: 2017-10-20 18:33:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/215851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ballpoint/pseuds/ballpoint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eli decides to put Kate through the age old rite of passage: how to sew a button.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How To Sew A Button

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Muccamukk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muccamukk/gifts).



> Characters and their distinguishing trademarks belong to Marvel Comics. No profit is being made off this fanwork.

"I'd like you to know, I've been to summer camp." Kate said, her tones chilled.

"I know, I know, Interlochen Summer Camp." Eli replied, to Kate's astonishment, because he actually remembered.

"I have better things to do on a Sunday afternoon."

"Not today." The nerve.

They were seated at the table in the kitchen of the Young Avengers HQ. The kitchen table, one of those sleek numbers with the graphite looking surface that gleamed like the slick of a wet road. Spread across its surface an odd offering- a white shirt missing two buttons on its right cuff, a miniature sewing kit opened, the intricate placement of needles, thread, scissors and a couple of buttons arranged as orderly as matches in a box.

Kate lifted the sewing kit, and in her hands - long fingers, her nails and oval with a slick of clear polish- this couldn't be worth more than pennies. Where did he find these things?

"Eli," Kate turned to him at last, tossing her hair back, so it fell behind her shoulders. "If I need my shirts repaired, I'll send them out to be seen to, buttons included."

"You're learning to sew a button."

"Sexist."

"No," Eli flicked off that suggestion with the ease of a shrug, so matter of fact, Kate held her tongue. "I can sew a button. My uncles and granddad learned too and that was way back when. Here's your shirt, it's been hanging on the edge of the sofa for a while now."

Kate pulled the shirt towards her. A white standard Hugo Boss, darts at the front, and the missing buttons at her cuff. An offence to Eli, obviously.

"I can't believe you've been looking at my shirt," she fumed, finding the cuff, rubbing her thumb over the snipped stitches.

"Your button dropped in Teddy's gumbo," Eli held out his palm, waggled his fingers, and Kate dropped the sewing kit in there. He stuck his hand out, and faintly colouring, she handed over her school shirt.

"It was microwavable gumbo. To say 'Teddy's gumbo' implies that he cooked it. From scratch."

"You'll hurt his feelings," Eli said, as he used his thumb and forefinger to take out a needle from its slot. Then another tilt of the box and rummage, and a little card with bits of thread wound into its slots. Kate huffed, leaning on her elbows now perched on the table. If her father and Suze ever saw her like this, they'd , well... they'd have cows.

"Kate, pay attention. The first thing we do is thread the needle. Try and have the thread about the same length as your arm. Most people tend to try and just- stick it through, like this." Eli made a gesture, the end of the whisper fine thread bending and looping around the shaft of the needle.

"That pretty much wastes time, so wet the end with the tip of your tongue and just thread it through." So said, so done, as he quickly touched the end of the thread to his tongue, and threaded it through the hole of the needle.

Kate propped her face on her fist, watching Eli under lowered lashes as he pulled the thread through, narrating his as he went along as if he were on Martha Stewart's _Living_ channel.

"You have a two hole button hole," he said, his thumb brushing over the mark, and he idly dragged out the rest of the cut threads. "Here's a small button that might do the trick"- and it did, small and white-"unless you think it's too cheap?"

Kate shrugged a shoulder, _so_ not caring.

Okay, Kate had to admit, a few minutes later, Eli was good at this. Not the sewing buttons bit, but the careful explanations as he did things, prompting her for explanations to see if she understood the principles of sewing a button.

"I shouldn't pull the stitch too tightly because I want to make sure that the button has enough space to fasten the edges of my shirt together."

Eli gave her a small smile, and a curt nod of encouragement. Kate inched closer to have a look at the motions of his hands, graceful with practice as he tugged at the thread, keeping the button in place with his thumb.

"You make a shank, by wrapping the thread around on itself like so."

"You're good at this."

"You sound surprised."

"No, I mean, at this teaching how to be a survivalist thing."

"It's a button," Eli glanced at her quizzically. "I'm teaching you how to sew a button, not how to skin deer or live off the fat of the land."

Kate dipped her head, happy that her hair fell across her face in tangled waves. She was stupid in like with him, and sometimes, she wondered what it would be like if she told him, or-

"No, I mean, it makes sense what you're saying. I thought you just go whip whip, and done. But there's method here."

"Then you pass the needle through to the back, tie a knot aaannnnd done."

He held up the sleeve of her shirt, his thumb brushing the button, and Kate leaned even further, up in his space, as she rubbed her thumb over the button of her sleeve. With fore finger and thumb, she plucked at it, and lifted her head to his, just a breath from each other, their faces close.

"That's ... great. Thank you."

"Do you think you can - do it?"

Kate placed her hand over his, held his wrist, and before her courage failed her, she leaned over, angled her face to his - only for their noses to bump into each other.

"Ow. _Ow_." Eli rubbed at the bridge of his nose, before his eyes met hers and they did that awkward half choked laugh.

Kate lifted her face from her fist, and used that hand to rub his nose, and this time, she leaned in, her aim unerring as they kissed for the first time. Both hands holding the half repaired cuff, while her other hand cupped his cheek, his other one on her shoulder. After the bubbling emotions of that inspired kiss at the end of the night when she got her bow and arrows back, and that desperate one that singed her retinas after the siege this one was different.

Slower, for one, as the world seemingly spun out around them on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Little kisses linked by breaking away for breaths and lips meeting again. Almost innocent, since their hands didn't move, and Eli tasted like the hot chocolate they had this morning, with a bit of citrus and bite.

On a breath, Kate broke away, and swallowed. "Okay, button."

With a short, sharp tug, Eli broke the thread, and handed her the needle. He might have been too dark to sport the burn on her cheeks like she did, but Kate knew he felt the same as she did, because unlike her, Eli's face said what was in his heart.

"Everything like we did before."

Kate couldn't help it. "Everything?"

Eli handed her the needle with its tail of thread, the gleam in his eye matched her own. "Do the button, and we'll see."

"Okay," Kate took the need from him, using her thumb and forefinger. "I can do this. If I can take down Kang with a bow and arrow, I can do this."

"You can do this."

In the lazy hours of Sunday afternoon, Kate did.

Fin


End file.
